she's beautiful
by Fishelle
Summary: He doesn't even realise how much trouble he's in until she's sweaty and gross and panting and he all he can think about is how beautiful she is. / Or, a glimpse at Auslly through the years. Austin-centric. One-shot.


SUMMARY: He doesn't even realise how much trouble he's in until she's sweaty and gross and panting and he all he can think about is how beautiful she is./Austin-centric

 **Disclaimer: Don't own it stop rubbing it in**

 **Word Count: 8 819**

 **A/N: I'M SORRY I KNOW I'M SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING ON "AND IT SMELLS LIKE COFFEE" AND I SWEAR THAT'S IN THE WORKS BUT I HAD THIS IDEA FOR THIS ONESHOT AND I JUST COULDN'T RESIST I'M SORRY OKAY I'M SORRY except not really cus I think this is kinda cute and hopefully you do too :D**

* * *

The first day he meets her, he gives her a glance up and down and briefly thinks ' _she's pretty'_ , because he's just met this girl and she isn't _hot_ because that implies that he wants to sexually destroy her (and he feels like it's a term that objectifies women, and his mother raised him better than that), but she's got these big brown eyes and soft-looking skin and he can't think of a better adjective to describe her other than _pretty_. He thinks that 'beautiful' is a term that should be reserved for appearance and personality, because you can't be beautiful if you're ugly on the inside but you can't be ugly if you're beautiful on the inside.

When Austin hears her singing and playing, he admittedly waits until she finishes. He thinks it's impolite to interrupt, especially since she seems so absorbed in her music, and he knows better than anybody just how important music is. She's talented, but so is he. He's impressed that the song is so catchy, but he thinks it should go faster. He gets bored of waiting, though, and he interrupts anyway, because he wants to know if he can get the harmonica for a discount since it had been inside the old lady. As it turns out, he can't. She's feisty and surprisingly stronger than he thought she would be and she pushes him out the door and kicks it for good measure, and he finally gets the picture that she wants him to leave.

He doesn't give the cute girl from the music shop much thought as he continues on with his day. Why would he? He lives in Miami and sees plenty of pretty – and _hot_ – girls every day.

The second time Austin meets Ally, there's fire in her eyes and venom in her voice. It turns out that he didn't write that amazing song and he feels disappointed and ashamed because he had oh-so-proudly flaunted his song-writing prowess to his parents, his friends, and anyone who would listen. She doesn't want credit for it, she wants acknowledgement, and he thinks maybe – just _maybe_ – she could be the kind of girl he could be friends with.

After she destroys the set of the Helen Show, they sit backstage and she looks so embarrassed that he's worried she'll blend in with the red curtains that are blocking the destroyed set from his view. He can't help but smile, until he notices that she's crying and hyperventilating and he suddenly realises that it's his fault. He made her live her biggest fear and even though he had good intentions, he knows it's his fault that she's crying.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, looking crestfallen.

Ally sniffles and wipes at her nose, before she turns those pretty brown eyes on him and offers him a small smile, swallowing hard. "I know you meant well," she says, her bottom lip trembling and her jaw clenched from the effort of not crying. Her knees are drawn to her chest and she's hugging them tightly, her knuckles white and her skin red where her fingers are digging into it.

"I promise I won't push you like that again," Austin says, biting his lip and looking at her with concern.

"It's okay," she insists. "You meant well. I'm not angry at you, Austin."

He still feels bad. He's an awful person, but she's willing to forgive him. He hadn't expected her to have a big heart.

Then she smiles properly at him, and even though there are still tears in her eyes and her nose is red and she's still physically shaking from the emotional and physical turmoil she just went through, it crosses his mind that she's beautiful.

* * *

He learns quickly that he likes pancakes and she likes pickles. He likes surfing and she likes books. But they both like music, and they both like the feeling they get when their hands brush. He doesn't think anything of it, because he knows she's pretty – he's always thought she was pretty – but all of sudden they're best friends who write love songs together and sometimes sing together when nobody else is around.

One day he notices that she's bad at dancing. Like, really, _really_ bad at dancing.

"Ally," he laughs, because if he has to watch her dance along when they re-watch _Footloose_ for the fourth time that week, then he wants to make sure that she's not going to poke out his eye with those flailing limbs of hers.

"I'm totally killing this," she exclaims happily, violently kicking the air as she twirls around with her pretty blue skirt fluttering around her knees as she does so.

"You're definitely _killing_ it," he sighs, hoping that she doesn't notice the sarcastic lilt to his voice. As much as he wants to tell her she's terrible at dancing, she looks like she's having too much fun and Austin can't find it within himself to tell her that she's awful at dancing.

She cocks her hip to the side and looks confused when she realises she's dancing alone, and before he knows it, he's on his feet and he's dancing alongside her, his movements just as wild and ungraceful as hers. They dance until they're sweating and panting and all he can think about is how much fun that was. He starts to thinks that maybe dancing isn't about being _good_ – it's about having fun.

Six months later, they're still watching _Footloose_ over and over again because it's one of her favourite movies and he loves the soundtrack. He notices that sometimes they don't get up and twirl and dance and sing along, and instead stay on the couch, slyly shuffling closer to one another until Ally's head is on his chest and all he can think about is how to breathe quietly so that he doesn't disturb her. It doesn't occur to him that maybe he _like_ likes her, or that she _like_ likes him, because they're _Austin and Ally_ , and Austin and Ally are best friends – nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't occur to him that best friends don't usually cuddle with their fingers laced and their bodies pressed against each other until they're just one large blob of person, with no distinction between who is who. It doesn't occur to him that best friends don't get that warm, fuzzy feeling in the morning when the sun is filtering in and making all the different colours of gold and brown and dark brown stand out in each other's eyes. It doesn't occur to him that best friends don't usually _accidentally_ fall asleep together and wake up in the morning with three parents in the living room asking them _what the hell they think they're doing._

* * *

Austin knows that her heart isn't broken, because she isn't crying and her smile is still genuine. But he knows that she's hurting and she's trying to cope and she can't believe that Dallas didn't even tell her he was moving until she saw his family packing a moving truck with their things. They're fifteen and Austin knows that she knows that any sort of relationship she wants to have now is different to any sort of relationship she's going to have in the future because she hasn't even finished going through _puberty_ yet, and there's still so much about herself that she has to learn. He knows that she wants to find herself before she gets a boyfriend, but he also knows that the pain doesn't stop just because she's strong and independent.

"I bought you a tub of fruity mint swirl," he says one day, and he knows he's caught her off-guard because she turns to him with an incredulous expression. "It was on special," he adds sheepishly.

Ally looks around points out that there is no tub of fruity mint swirl around, and if there _had_ been a tub, it surely would have melted by now in the hot afternoon sun. They had been writing a song all afternoon, but now that they've finished writing and they have nothing better to do, Austin figures now is the best time to gently remind her that she can talk to him about Dallas – about _anything_ – and he's always going to have his arms open and a tub of fruity mint swirl if that's what she wants.

"It's in the freezer," he explains, pointing to the fridge in the corner of the practice room.

Before he knows it, she's laughing and smiling and calling him an idiot as she wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest.

"You're an _idiot,_ " she mumbles over and over. "A stupid dumb idiot with a massive heart. An _idiot._ "

They pull apart from each other and get the fruity mint swirl. Somehow, they end up sharing a spoon, even though there's more than one spoon available. They stop talking about Dallas and start talking about music and a future together, a future where they're both famous and tour the world and they know they'll be impossibly happy because they get to do it all with their best friend. They end up cuddling, the tub of fruity mint swirl tucked away safely in the freezer. Ally ends up sideways in his lap, with her head on his shoulder and her legs hanging off of the side of his thigh. He kisses her cheek and it's weird because they don't _like_ like each other but they both liked the feeling of his lips against her cheek and they both know that it's going to become a regular occurrence. They stay in the practice room until late in the night when suddenly their parents call and ground them for staying out past curfew.

He thinks that he likes being an idiot if it means that Ally will share a spoon with him.

* * *

It's when she performs with him on Halloween that Austin begins to think that maybe he _like_ likes her.

She's vibrant and radiant and utterly _sexy_ as she catches the microphone that he tosses to her and somehow dances without breaking anybody's nose. He didn't realise that she was such a good performer and he's suddenly awe-struck as he realises for the infinity-ith time that year that his best friend is extremely talented. (And pretty, but he likes her for her brains as well as her beauty).

"You were amazing," he breathes to her when Trish and Dez are gone and it's just the two of them. He wants the moment to be special, a memory she can hold forever. He wants to hold her close and whisper sweet nothings into her hair until they're the only two people in his world – in _their_ world – but he tenses his muscles in an effort to keep his arms at his sides and instead smiles at her. "Really, _really_ amazing."

She smiles bashfully at him and once again all Austin can think about is that he _like_ likes her and that he wants to kiss her but he's worried that it'll ruin things between them, so he bites his tongue.

"Thank you, Austin," she says, ducking her head again in embarrassment.

A few days later, he sees her sitting with Trish in Melody Diner, filling her mouth with as much Cha-Cha Chicken Pot Pie as possible and he thinks that maybe he _doesn't like_ like her after all.

(Except that now all he can think about is how cute she looks when she sees him through the window of the diner, and she smiles and waves, before she turns back to her pie with a gleeful gleam in her eye.)

* * *

She's on the stage with him again, but this time they aren't a gladiator and Galexis Nova, they're Austin and Ally and she's _mesmerising_. Austin has accepted that he _like_ likes her, but he likes Kira too and he doesn't want to hurt anybody. If he's honest with himself, he knows that he would choose Ally over Kira in a heartbeat, but he feels bad because he's led Kira on and he promised his mother that he would never hurt anybody intentionally. Kira's a nice girl and she's been patient with him even though he's indecisive and it's clear that he likes Ally a lot. All thoughts of Kira fly out of his mind because suddenly he's lost in Ally's eyes and in Ally's voice and all he can think about is how badly he wants to kiss her, right there, in front of everybody in the rainforest-themed café. He thinks that her dad would strangle him if he tried.

They get off stage and before he knows it he's kissed her but he doesn't care about the consequences because he _kissed_ her and it doesn't matter that he's potentially ruined their friendship, their _everything_ , because he _kissed_ her and she kissed him back and it was _really good;_ magical, even _._

Then Kira comes and he knows he's made a mistake as soon as he sees the hurt in Ally's chocolate brown eyes, and she looks more upset than he's ever seen her before. He knows it's his fault and he's mentally calling himself every bad name possible as he tries to explain to her that he asked Kira to be his girlfriend out of politeness, before he realised that he needs Ally the same way he needs music – because he used to think that music was his oxygen, but he's starting to wonder if maybe Ally is his music.

Every time he tries to tell her this, she says that she understands, but Austin knows that she doesn't. He wants to be with _Ally_ , not with Kira, and this time he doesn't care if he has to hurt Kira in order to be with Ally.

He doesn't know how he does it, but somehow Ally's in his arms and they're _officially a couple_ , but they're sixteen and it's over all too soon. They were ready for the relationship, but they weren't mature enough for it. He knows that he's always going to compare every girlfriend he ever has back to Ally, because she gave him a glimpse of a real, adult relationship, where teenage angst and puberty didn't get in the way, and it was the magnitude of their feelings that scared them and made them awkward. Austin has a feeling that when they're older and more mature, they're going to try again. Maybe they'll be ready by then.

After all, they're only sixteen. They're not the same people they were when they were six, and they're not going to be the same people they are right now when they're twenty-six.

* * *

They have three weeks until prom and they aren't going together, even if Austin wishes they were. He has a girlfriend and she has a boyfriend, but he wonders why his girlfriend isn't Ally, and why Ally's boyfriend isn't him. Instead, he has Piper, who's lovely and pretty and smells like the ocean, and she has Gavin who's sweet and handsome and loves music as much as she does, and whilst Austin knows they're happy with their respective partners, he can't help but think that they would be happier together.

"I want to get fit!" Ally declares one night, when her head is in his lap and there's a bowl of popcorn on her stomach.

Austin raises an eyebrow down at her, and reaches for the remote to turn off the TV. He's spent enough nights cuddled on a couch with her that he knows when to dismiss her strange little comments and leave the TV on, and when to turn it off to talk to her. It isn't weird that they still cuddle and sometimes kiss each other on the cheek and fall asleep together, and Gavin and Piper are totally cool with it.

Okay, so maybe Gavin and Piper don't know that they still do this.

"Why do you want to get fit?" Austin asks, returning his hand to play with her hair while the other reaches into the bowl of popcorn that's still on her stomach.

"Prom is coming up," she says, furrowing her brow as though it were obvious.

"So?"

She mumbles something incoherent, and Austin raises an eyebrow, looking vaguely amused. He doesn't say anything, and neither does she, until she eventually sighs and gives in.

"You're going to think it's stupid," she says.

"Ally," he laughs, reaching for another handful of popcorn to shovel into his mouth. "Even if I think it's stupid, that doesn't make your reason any less valid. C'mon, just tell me."

"I know it's only junior prom, but _still_ , it's _prom_. It'd just be nice to have, y'know, like, a _sexy_ body," she mumbles, her eyes flickering away from him in embarrassment.

He chokes on his handful of popcorn, and he moves his hand from her hair to pound against his chest, popcorn flying out of his mouth and landing on the coffee table, and the remainder of his handful falling into his lap and onto Ally. With a squeal, she sits up, shaking out her hair to get rid of any popcorn bits that may have fallen out of his mouth or hand, and then she glares at him. A few seconds pass, and he's still coughing and pounding his chest, and she can't stay mad at him for long because she shakes her head with an amused smile and gets up to get him a glass of water.

" _Sexy_?!" He manages to wheeze out, his eyes wide.

Ally bites her lip shyly and nods, and it's that shy, vulnerable expression of hers that calms Austin down. She's not doing this to look good for Gavin – she's doing this because _she_ wants to feel confident, and if getting fit and looking ' _sexy'_ makes her feel confident, then he wants to help. With a hard swallow, he finally stops choking on the popcorn and offers her a small smile.

"Are you asking me to be your _personal trainer_?" He teases, folding his arms across his chest and settling into the couch.

She smiles and returns to her previous position, laying her head down in his lap so that he can play with her hair again. She once told him that she likes it when he does that, because it makes her feel like she's eight again and her parents are still together and everything is right with her world. When she told him that, he had thought that maybe one day, _he_ would give her a happy family, and everything would be right with _their_ world. Needless to say, he never misses an opportunity to play with her hair.

"Yes," she says. "Be my personal trainer. I want to have _abs_."

"We're going to recreate you," he warns. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

She grins and sits up, her nose bumping against his in a way that makes him forget that Piper and Gavin even exist.

" _Yes_."

* * *

He's jogging along the beach and huffing and puffing when it suddenly occurs to him that he has no idea where Ally is. He turns around and sees her sitting on the sand, a bottle of water connected to her lips and her chest heaving as she attempts to catch her breath. His own breath catches when she flips her hair away from her neck and fans herself, the smooth skin looking impossibly tempting from where he's standing.

(He thinks it would look impossibly tempting no matter where he was standing.)

"Ally!" He calls, trying not to laugh.

"Austin," she mocks, standing up and slowly trudging over to him.

"C'mon, you said you wanted me to _recreate_ you. Don't you remember? Do it for the abs, Ally! Do it for the _abs_."

"I'm kind of fond of the _flabs_ ," she moans dramatically, finally catching up to him and collapsing even more dramatically against his chest.

She's sweaty and disgusting and Austin makes a face, but he doesn't try to move her away. He's sweaty and disgusting, too – considerably less so, since he's more fit than she is, but that doesn't mean he doesn't sweat.

"Ally," he warns.

She pouts and looks up at him with those puppy dog eyes that he can't resist and he wraps his arms around her waist and all he can think about is how _badly_ he wants to kiss her. He almost leans in, but he doesn't. There's a week until prom and he asked Piper yesterday if she would be a date. Gavin hasn't asked Ally yet, but Austin knows that they'll go together. He doesn't want to be the guy who makes Ally cheat on her boyfriend. He doesn't want to be the guy who cheats on his girlfriend.

"Fine," he sighs eventually, when it becomes evident that neither of them are going to say anything, and that they're essentially just staring at each other. "No more running. But only if you do a triple set of sit-ups instead of a double set when we get home," he adds before she can celebrate.

She glares at him but sighs and looks down dolefully. "For the abs," she mumbles sadly.

He lets go of her but laces his fingers through hers, and as they walk down the beach they overhear an elderly women whispering about them to her husband.

"Don't those two remind you of us when we were their age?"

Austin and Ally both hear it, and instead of getting awkward and embarrassed like he thought they would if they were ever in this situation, they simply smile at each other and continue walking. He strokes his thumb over her tiny hand, and she swings their hands back and forth. He wonders if they're mature enough for that relationship they tried last year. He likes to think that if Piper and Gavin weren't in the picture, things between himself and Ally could really work out.

* * *

It's prom and she's finally in his arms and all he can think about is how beautiful she is and how lucky he is that he can finally kiss her. He can't even find it in himself to feel bad about breaking up with Piper because he's _happy_ and when Ally smiles at him like he's the most important thing in her world, he knows that this is _it._ It doesn't matter that they're only seventeen and they have their whole lives ahead of them because this time he knows for sure that they can handle this. They're mature enough for a _real adult relationship_ , and it doesn't matter how much they change and grow from who they are today, because they're going to change and grow _together._

"I missed you," he breathes into her hair, and he feels her smile against his chest. He pulls his head back just slightly to smile at her, and she lifts her face up to smile at him.

"Then don't let me go again," she whispers back, a cheeky sparkle in her eye as she tilts her head back expectantly.

He obliges and leans down to kiss her, and he feels like his heart is about to burst out of his chest because he doesn't even know how to describe how he feels for the petite girl in his arms. All he knows is that this is real, and that he isn't dreaming – because he's had so many dreams of her that he once worried that he would never have the real thing – and he's happier than he's ever been. He doubts that this is the happiest he'll ever be, though, because he knows his future will be filled with her and that they're going to have so many more moments of unadulterated euphoria.

When he finally manages to take his lips away from hers – because _crap_ , he's worried that he's addicted – he cracks a sly smile and remembers their conversation from weeks ago when Ally first declared that she wanted to get fit for the prom.

"By the way," he whispers into her ear, pulling her close again and moulding her into his body. "You look _sexy._ "

* * *

They've officially broken their old record for how long they've been a couple for, and it's almost the night of Ally's record release party. Austin's so proud of her that he can't even express it in _music_ and all he can do is kiss her over and over again until she erupts into giggles and he feels his _feelings_ for her grow even more. He's well beyond _like_ liking her, but he isn't sure if he loves her _like that_ just yet, but it's her night and all he cares about is keeping her happy. His heart almost stops when he finds out that they're losing Sonic Boom, because Sonic Boom is the place he met Ally and it's the place Ally met him.

Somehow, she still has time for him despite their clashing schedules. They've been trying to squeeze in a whole month's worth of dating into one weekend, but they still go jogging together even though it's been weeks since prom. Ally wants to be as fit as Austin, and Austin – well, he thinks she looks cute when she runs. Not to mention that she likes to wear yoga pants and loose over-shirts, and thanks to the height difference he's able to see her bra whenever they stop to take a break. He hopes she doesn't realise that he's staring, but on the other hand, he's never been subtle with it before.

"I can't run anymore," she moans dramatically as they run, and he laughs and shakes his head.

"Tell you what," he says between heavy breaths. "I'll race you to that tree up there. If you beat me, we stop. If you don't, we finish the lap."

"I hate you," she says murderously.

Again, he laughs, and he purposefully slows down until she's a little bit ahead of him. "I'll give you a head start. Go!"

With another exaggerated moan of pain, she runs forward until she's sprinting and he feels so proud of her because a month ago, she couldn't even make it to that tree without giving up, and now she's able to race him to it. He lets her win, even though he's taller and fitter and could easily overtake her, and when he finds her leaning against the tree with an arm pressed to her sweaty forehead and her bottle of water pressed to her lips, he feels like he's won anyway. She's breathing heavily and he can a see light sheen of sweat covering her whole body, and her hair is matted and stuck to her forehead, but he's so proud of her. She can run further than she could before and he knows it's thanks to him, but _she's_ the one who's been putting in the effort, and even though she's sweaty and gross and panting, all Austin wants to do is twirl her and kiss her and tell her that she's amazing.

He doesn't even realise how much trouble he's in until it clicks in his mind that she's _sweaty and gross and panting_ and he all he can think about is how beautiful she is.

But then he realises that she's always beautiful to him. He hasn't thought of Ally as _pretty_ since that day on the Helen Show when she smiled at him through her tears and told her she wasn't mad at him. Ever since that moment, he's thought _she's beautiful_ because her personality is brighter than her smile and he knows that her smile is bright enough to light up a room. He thinks she's beautiful because she's always ready to comfort him, even if she's the one who's in pain.

Before he knows it, he's taken her into his arms and he's kissing her deeply and she's surprised but she kisses him back.

"You're so beautiful," he whispers against her lips, his eyes closed with content.

"And you're gross and sweaty," she whispers back, and when he opens his eyes, she's grinning at him cheekily with that mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"I was trying to be _romantic_ ," he says, but he can't even pout because he's just so happy that she's in his arms and even though she finds him gross and sweaty, she's still twisting her tiny hands into his hair and pressing her warm forehead against his.

"And _I_ was being _realistic_ ," she mocks before bursting into giggles at his exasperated expression.

He shuts her up with a kiss. He likes how she melts into it.

* * *

Austin knows that he did a dumb thing when he realises that he has lost his music. He doesn't regret it, though, because Ally is his music and he will always choose her over his fame. He's always liked those sparkling brown eyes more than the blinding stage lights, anyway.

Their parents sensed that they wanted time alone, but they set strict rules on them because they know that they're teenagers and even though they trust their kids, they remember what it was like when they were young and in love for the first time, too. Austin's grateful that his parents know that he just wants to be with Ally, to hold her and remember that she's worth giving up his career because if he spends too much time away from her he's scared he's going to forget.

They're lying on her bed but they're still fully clothed, because Mr Dawson made them promise that they would leave the door open and he's been checking in on them periodically, so he can't just lounge around in his boxers. (They've never been less than fully clothed, anyway, unless you count that time that they fell asleep on the beach in their swimmers.)

Ally's changed into her pyjamas and her face is void of make-up but she's glowing and she's radiant and he's reminded of that first Halloween that he shared the stage with her. He's still wearing his suit, but he's taken off his shoes and socks, and his jacket and belt are hung neatly on her computer chair. Her legs are tangled with his and her face is in his chest and he knows he could be happier but he tries not to think about his lost career. He has the girl he loves in his arms and _she's_ what's important. Besides, he made enough money from his three-year-career to last him for the rest of his life, and if he's really going to be with Ally forever, he knows that he doesn't have anything to worry about, financially.

But it's only been three hours and he already misses performing.

He thinks that Ally is asleep and he closes his eyes, ready to fall asleep as well. He doesn't mind lying to his parents and saying that they fell asleep _by accident_ – it's not as though he's never done that before – but suddenly she shivers in his arms and he hears a muffled whimper.

"Ally?" He whispers, unsure of what to do in this situation.

She buries her face further into his chest and shakes her head, and he can feel her breathing rapidly, her breath coming out short and shallow and warming his chest in frequent bursts. He doesn't know what's wrong so he pulls his head back and tries to look at her but she buries herself further into him and he doesn't know what to do.

"Ally," he tries again, moving his hand from her back and placing it under her chin, trying to coax her into looking at him.

" _No_ ," she mumbles, and he can feel her tiny fingers digging into his back. It suddenly seems that whatever is bothering her has gotten a million times worse because she's shuddering and shaking but it's when he feels tears soaking into his shirt that he decides he can't take it anymore.

Without a second thought, he moves his hand from her face and places it on her waist. She relaxes for a moment, but then he wriggles his fingers and suddenly he's tickling her and she rolls away from him with a giggle despite the few sobs she lets out between giggles. It doesn't matter that the door is wide open and that he knows Mr Dawson could walk in at any moment, because suddenly he's hovering over Ally and his lips are pressed gently to hers and she's _finally_ relaxing. After a moment he pulls his lips away from hers and kisses her cheek. He wants to kiss down her neck but he's never done that before and he doesn't want to try that for the first time when he knows Mr Dawson could walk in on them at any moment. Instead, he offers her a smile, one arm braced above her head and the other arm beside her head, stroking her cheek gently.

"What's wrong?" He asks her, pressing his forehead to hers and searching through her eyes. They're still pretty and brown but they're glistening with unshed tears, and her eyelashes are wet with the few she shed earlier.

"I'm scared," she whispers, and she closes her eyes and puts her hands on his back, pulling him closer until he stops hovering over her and instead lying on top of her. He's worried that he's crushing her but she doesn't seem to mind and he likes having every part of his body pressed against hers, anyway.

"Why?"

"You gave up music. For me." She says, opening her eyes. He can see that she's terrified.

"I know," he says. He's puzzled. He doesn't understand what she's trying to say.

"What happens if you wake up tomorrow and suddenly hate me because I'm the reason you can't perform?" She asks, and her lip is trembling.

"Ally," he says, pressing his thumb against her trembling lip. "I love you."

"But what if that isn't enough?" She worries, her eyes wide. "What if you suddenly start to _resent_ me because _I'm_ the reason that you can't have music?"

He smiles at her gently, and pecks her quickly on the lips. " _You're_ my music," he whispers to her, his eyes meeting hers earnestly. "I know I'm going to be grouchy and annoying and sad that I can't perform but I'm never going to regret what I did tonight. I've always told you that you're worth more than all of that to me. It's not like this is the first time I risked my career for you," he points out, trying to soothe her anxieties.

She takes in a deep breath and before he knows it she's kissing him again and it's like she's trying to prove to herself that he's real and he's there and she hasn't lost him like she thought she had earlier that night. His hands are on her face and his whole body is enveloping her tiny form and he's kissing her back just as passionately because it suddenly hits him that he almost _lost_ her tonight, and she's lying here, with him, feeling guilty because _he_ chose to give up music for _her_. She's the most beautiful person he knows, so talented and smart and _thoughtful_ and he's so incredibly proud of how far she's come. Before he can even register that he's _making out_ with _Ally Dawson_ , and can even think to move his hands away from her face, a loud cough is heard from the doorway and with an embarrassed squeal, Austin rolls off of her and off of her bed.

" _Ooft_ ," he gasps, sitting up and rubbing his face, well aware that his cheeks are burning red. Ally looks just as embarrassed. "Sorry, Mr Dawson," he apologises quickly, standing up and awkwardly smoothing his shirt.

Lester's eyes soften. "Call me 'Dad'," he says, before he smiles at the couple and shuts the door behind him.

* * *

It becomes obvious to Austin that Ally's still on her performance high when she attempts to do a cartwheel, falls into a nearby trashcan, and lets out a disappointed _ooft_. He laughs and helps her out of the trashcan and onto the tour bus because now she's limping but by the time they get into the bus the pain is gone and she thanks him by kissing his cheek. They bicker over who gets to use the bathroom first and Ally wins, because really, all it takes for her to win is the Puppy Dog Eyes accompanied by twirling her hair around her finger and whispering _'pwease, Austy?_ '

He doesn't tell her that he was going to let her shower first anyway, considering she was still sweaty and gross from her performance _and_ she had just fallen into a trashcan. He lets her think that he let her win because she's cute. Her cuteness is why he lets her win most of the time, anyway.

They've been on tour for exactly one week now, and whilst neither Lester nor Mike nor Mimi were entirely pleased with the idea of their children going on a tour bus without parental supervision, it's impractical for any of them to leave their respective stores – although they do call their precious children every night to wish them a good night's sleep. Austin and Ally have been secretly sharing a bed even though the bunk is tiny enough as it is, and there's more than one bunk available. They haven't done anything _inappropriate_ but their parents still fret and still assume that they have.

When Austin finally gets out of the shower, he notices that Ally isn't wearing her cute unicorn-themed pyjamas, she's wearing one of his shirts and a pair of loose sweatpants and all he can think about is how much better his shirt looks on her. Then he realises that not only was she wearing _his_ shirt, she was wearing the shirt _he_ had been planning on wearing.

Oh well. He usually gets warm in the middle of the night and wants to take it off, anyway.

She's already lying down in the bunk they had claimed as _their_ bunk, since it was the biggest out of all the small beds on the tour bus. She's doing something on her phone, but when she feels the bed move under Austin's weight, she looks up and smiles at him. A moment later, her smile is replaced by a perfect little _o_ and her eyes are scanning up and down his chest appreciatively, and he thinks that maybe this _was_ her subtle way of telling him it was okay if he didn't wear a shirt to bed. She knows that he doesn't normally wear one, and that he only wears one when he's with her because she's _Ally_ and he doesn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"My eyes are up here," he jokes, and her eyes snap back to his and her cheeks are tinted red. He wants to kiss her.

"I know!" She protests meekly, before she grins at him and clambers over him so that she can put her phone on the charger. When she returns to the bunk, she raises an eyebrow and folds her arms across her chest, clearly expecting him to roll further into the bunk so she can lie down. He raises an eyebrow up at her and makes a silly face, and she rolls her eyes and has to climb back over him before she can settle back into her place.

They wriggle around until they're both under the quilt but this time it's new and exciting because even though they've been dating for a while now, and they've been best friends for so long, they've never shared a moment this intimate before. He can feel her breath on his bare chest and this time there isn't any sand or bright sun or other friends to distract him from the feeling, and he knows she can feel his heart beating under her tiny hand. He's humming quietly to her, because even though Jimmy's taken away his rights to perform, he can still sing to Ally and it's the quiet moments where everything slows down that he loves. He loves _her_ , and he's so proud of her and how well she's doing on tour – almost every night has been sold out.

"My shirt looks good on you," he comments, giving her a wolfish smirk.

"Looks better on me than it ever did on you," she quips dryly, but he knows she's joking and as her eyes flit over his bare arms, he finds that he doesn't mind if she wants to steal _all_ his shirts.

"You were so amazing tonight," he whispers into her hair, and she grins up at him with that excited look in her eyes.

"You never told me that stage lights are so _warm_ ," she giggles.

"Yeah, you were all sweaty and gross up there," he jokes.

"There were so many _people_ ," she whispers back, looking mildly terrified but exhilarated at the same time.

"And they all _loved_ you."

"Not as much as _you_ love me," she points out cheekily.

He smiles, and touches her cheek. "Not as much as I love you," he agrees, and he presses his lips gently to hers. He feels her smile into his kiss and he smiles too, and then she lets out a little giggle, but instead of pulling away he kisses her harder because he wants her to know how much he means it. She's his world and he knows she's still worried that he's going to resent her because she's allowed to perform and he isn't and he gave up performing for her – but, hell, he gave up _performing_ for _her_ , and he knows that this is real, and as he kisses down her neck and learns more about her than he's ever known before, he knows he's going to spend the rest of his life with her.

Hours later, they're _both_ sweaty and gross and panting for a completely different reason, and now he thinks that maybe his shirt looks better on the floor than it did on either of them.

* * *

It's their fourth-year-anniversary and he's taken her to their music factory for the evening, but he had help from Dez to transform the current practice room to look like the _old_ practice room. Tears spring to her eyes as she looks around, recognising the way they used to decorate it and even though all he and Dez really did was put in the old furniture (that, for some reason, had been in a storage locker; as it turns out, Lester's hoarding came in useful) and rearrange it. Whilst the floors and the walls are still the new, renovated floors and walls, the layout of the room is the same that it was seven years ago when he first had the honour of meeting Ally.

"I love it," she whispers, a hand on her heart before she turns around and hugs him tightly.

He smiles and kisses the top of her head, before he pulls away and grabs her hand, pulling her into the room. He grabs a blanket from the closet and starts taking things out of the fridge and sets things up like a picnic, and Ally wanders over to another cupboard and pulls out a few candles.

Dinner is filled with mushy comments and random declarations of love from Austin, followed with embarrassed blushes and eye rolls from Ally. She _loves_ love, but Austin is the hopeless romantic out of the two – he blames it on all the romantic movies Dez makes him watch.

When they finish dinner, Ally pushes him onto his back, and then lies down with her head on his stomach and her hands folded over her own. Her eyes are closed in content and he plays with her hair because even though it's been six years since she shyly admitted that she likes it when he plays with her hair, he still remembers that night vividly.

"Hey, Ally," he says randomly, after a few moments of lying silently with her. "You know how this _technically_ isn't our anniversary?" He asks, sitting up slightly, but not completely, because her head is still on his stomach and he can't really move. "Like, it's just a random date we chose to celebrate?"

Ally sits up and gives him a weird look. "Uh, yeah… Because we couldn't decide if our anniversary should be the day we met, or the day we _first_ got together, or the day we got _back_ together or…"

He cuts her off by putting his finger to her lips. "Well, I've decided that today is going to be our technical anniversary."

"What do you mean?" She asks, scrunching her nose up in confusion.

Austin smirks at her and stands up, pulling her with him so that she's standing too, but then he suddenly drops down onto one knee while she's still standing, her hands enclosed in his.

" _Yes_ ," she says, and he doesn't even have time to pull out the ring box because she's tackled him to the ground and she's kissing him and he doesn't know how else to respond other than to kiss her back.

Later, they're lying on the floor of the practice room, the moonlight filtering in through the window and making Ally's skin glow the way it always seems to every time that he gets to see her like this. He lies with his arms around her, pressing his lips to her sweaty forehead gently and she rests her head on top of his chest, listening to his hammering heart as they lay tangled together. After a few moments, Austin silently reaches for his long-forgotten pants and pulls the ring box out of the pocket. She watches as he tosses his pants to the side again, and then puts the box on top of his chest in front of her face, his hands moving back to trace up and down her spine.

"I had a whole speech prepared," he says quietly, his lips curving into an amused smirk. "You ruined it with your feminine wiles."

Ally smiles sheepishly and shuffles so that she's on her stomach but she's still lying on his chest and she can see him. "Sorry," she mumbles, sounding unapologetic as her fingers trail up and down the planes of his stomach.

Without another word, he moves his hands away from her back and opens the box, taking out the diamond ring, and slips it onto her finger. When his eyes meet hers again they're glittering with excitement and it isn't long before their heart rates are up and they're sweaty and gross and panting again.

(He still thinks she's beautiful.)

* * *

They've been married for two years now and she's been pregnant for seven months. Austin gets home on a warm summer evening, and finds the most peculiar site of Dez and Ally doing some kind of partner yoga in the living room. According to Dez, this yoga helped Carrie with her back pain when she was pregnant, and Ally's in enough pain that she's willing to try it. Trish is sitting on the couch and taking photos that Austin has no doubt will end up on Instagram later.

"Hi, Aus!" Ally exclaims, waving at him in excitement before she lets out a sharp exhale. "Whew!" She breathes, sitting in the butterfly position on the floor and attempting to touch her forehead to her toes. She can't bend very far, considering the size of her stomach is almost the same size as her petite body. She eventually gives up and holds her hands up. "Dez, help me up," she whines.

The red-head laughs slightly and helps her up, letting out exaggerated noises of pain before she swats him, clearly not in the mood for his jokes. He winces and rolls his eyes.

"Enjoy your handful, Austin," Dez complains, rubbing the spot on his chest that she had slapped.

Ally smiles angelically at the blond and he grins back at her goofily, and he hears Trish mutter something about being whipped. His pretty little wife waddles over to him, and his goofy smile only grows as she comes to stand in the doorway with him. His hands immediately spread over her stomach before he bends over and presses a kiss to the bump.

"Hi, Baby," he whispers against her stomach, and then he stands properly and cups Ally's jaw with a hand and gives her a kiss. "Hi, Ally."

"Do you _always_ have to kiss my tummy, too?" She complains.

He rolls his eyes. "Gee, thanks, good to see you too, wifey."

She bats her eyelashes and gives him another angelic smile, and she knows that he can't resist because he's never resisted it before. With another roll of his eyes, he kisses her on the forehead, and then moves around her to greet Dez and Trish.

Trish's eyes widen and she ignores him completely, looking at the doorway, and it suddenly occurs to Austin that Ally didn't follow him into the living room. Dez shoves him harshly on the shoulder and forces him to turn around, and all he sees is Ally keeled over in pain.

"Guys," Ally wails. "I think my water just broke."

"You're only twenty-eight weeks!" Trish hisses, pushing past Austin when it becomes apparent that he doesn't know how to move anymore. He can hear Dez calmly telling him to get his keys because he needs to take Ally to the hospital _now_ , and he doesn't question it because he knows that his best friend has been through this same thing with Carrie.

He feels like he's in a trance as he pulls his car keys out of his pocket and he walks to the front door with several long strides. Trish is already helping Ally down the driveway, and Austin unlocks the door so that she can help her in. He's breathing hard and he's scared. Dez takes the keys from him and Trish pushes him into the backseat so that he's with Ally, and before he knows it the car is moving and Trish and Dez are bickering as usual.

"Austin, just breathe," Ally laughs, but her eyes are glassy and he knows that she's as scared as he is.

"I should be comforting _you_ ," Austin says petulantly, gripping the door handle so tightly that his knuckles begin to turn white.

She huffs and reaches over him to gently pry his hands away from the door handle. She takes his hands in hers and kisses his knuckles gently. "I'm going to be fine, and our baby will be too," she promises. He knows he should trust her, because she's done a lot of reading on this but he knows that even she doesn't know what will happen.

They get to the hospital and Ally is whisked away, and he follows them while Dez and Trish stay in the waiting room. The doctors get her into a bed and she starts pushing and she's gripping his hand tighter than she's ever gripped it before. His heart breaks when he hears her cry in anguish – after all, he is considerably larger than her and any baby of his is probably considerably large as well.

"You can do this," he whispers in her ear, his thumb running over her hand. "Remember when you wanted to get fit, so you kept pushing yourself, and soon you beat me to that tree?"

Ally rolls her eyes and lets out another scream. "This isn't quite the same thing, Austin!" She snaps.

He knows she's in pain and he knows that she doesn't mean to scream at him, so he doesn't get upset.

Within minutes, she's out of breath and her forehead is slick with sweat, with wavy tendrils of hair sticking to her face. A baby's cry is heard and Austin catches a glimpse of a small, pink bundle being carried away. He wants to see his baby, but Ally is his top priority right now and he pushes hair away from her face, trying to see if she's okay.

"Ally?" He whispers, hunched awkwardly over her hospital bed.

"I'm fine," she whispers without opening her eyes, but she gives him a small smile and he knows she's telling the truth.

A few more minutes later, she's caught her breath and the nurses have brought their baby back to them. She's beautiful and tiny and pink and Austin can already tell that she's got her Mummy's nose – he definitely thought Ally's perfect nose looked cuter on a baby than his would.

"She's so beautiful," Ally whispers, looking down at the bundle in her arms. Austin smiles at their baby and then he looks at his wife, kissing her sweetly.

She's sweaty and gross and panting, but this time Austin _knows_ how much trouble he's in. He finds that he doesn't really mind, as long as he's with Ally.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew! This turned out a lot longer than I predicted! It also kind of turned into an "Auslly through the years" kind of oneshot when I'd originally intended for it to be just that short bit where they're running together, buT I JUST KEPT WRITING AND IT TURNED INTO THIS SPRAWLING MESS OFF 8000+ WORDS.**

 ***whispers* I'll go work on coffeeaustin now I'M SORRY OKAY I hope you liked the oneshot, please let me know your thoughts in the reviews or in a PM or on Twitter or whatever! :D I love feedback :D**


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